Common CrossFit Movements

The following is a list of movements/exercises common in CrossFit workouts, with brief descriptions.

Air squat: Athlete moves from the standing position to a squatting position with the hips below the knees, and back to standing. One-legged air squats are referred to as pistols.

Back extension: Using a GHD machine, the athlete moves from an L-shaped position with the head directly below the pelvis to an extended horizontal position.

Box jump: From a standing position on the floor, the athlete jumps and lands with both feet on top of a box, and fully extends before returning to the floor. Typical box heights in inches are 15", 20", 24", and 30".

Burpee: Beginning in a standing position, the athlete drops to the floor with the feet extending backward, contacts the floor with the chest, and then pulls the legs forward, landing in a squatting position before standing up, usually ending with a small jump.

Handstand push-up: Beginning in a handstand, with the arms straight and (usually) the heels gently resting against a wall, the athletes bends the arms until the head touches the ground, and then pushes back up into a handstand position.

Jump rope: The most common variation is CrossFit is the "double under" in which the jump rope makes two revolutions for each jump.

Knees-to-elbows: Hanging from a bar, starting in an extended position, the athlete raises the knees until they make contact with the elbows.

L-sit: With the body supported on gymnastics rings or parallettes, the athlete holds the feet at or above the level of the hips with the legs straight.

Lunge: Athlete takes a large step forward, bends the forward knee until the back knee makes contact with the ground, and rises.

Muscle-up: Hanging from gymnastics rings or a bar, the athlete pulls up and over the rings or bar, ending with the arms straight and the hands below the hips.

Ring dip: Starting with the body supported on the rings with straight vertical arms, the athlete bends the arms, lowering the body until the shoulder drops below the elbow, and then straightens the arms.

Pull-up: Starting from a hanging position with straight arms, the athlete pulls up until the chin is over the bar. Variations include: strict, in which no swinging is allowed; kipping, in which momentum is used to help complete the movement; weighted, in which extra weight is hung from the athlete; chest-to-bar, in which the ending point of the movement is higher, and the chest makes contact with the bar; jumping, in which the legs are used to help propel the athlete upwards; assisted, in which an elastic band allows the movement to be completed with less than full body weight.

Push-up: Starting in a plank position with the arms straight, the athlete lowers until the chest makes contact with the ground, keeping the body straight throughout, and pushes back up into the plank position. Variations include weighted push-ups and ring push-ups, in which the hands are supported just above the ground by gymnastics rings.

Rope climb: Starting from the ground, the athlete climbs a rope and touches a point at a designated height, often 15 feet. Variations include no feet, and L-sit, in which the feet are held above the level of the hips during the climb.

Sit-up: Athlete moves from a supine position, with the shoulders on the ground, to a sitting position with the shoulders over the hips. The feet are sometimes anchored. An "ab-mat" is sometimes placed under the lower back.

Toes-to-bar: Hanging from a bar in an extended position, the athlete brings the feet upward until they make contact with the bar.

Running: Typical distances range from 200 meters to 1 mile. Shuttle runs back and forth between marks 10 meters apart are also used.

Rowing: Many workouts include rowing machine distances from 500 meters to 2000 meters, or rowing "for calories".

Deadlift: Barbell is lifted from the ground until the athlete reaches an upright standing position.

Clean: Barbell (or dumbbells) is lifted from the ground to a "rack position" in front of the athlete's neck. Athlete ends in a standing position. In a squat clean the athlete receives the bar in a squatting position and stands to finish the lift. In a power clean, the athlete receives the bar in a partial squat.

Press: Barbell is moved from the "rack position" to the overhead position. In a strict press, also called a shoulder press or military press, the lower body remains stationary. In a push press, the bar is "jumped" off the body using a "dip and drive" motion. A push jerk is like a push press, but with a re-bend of the knees to allow the athlete to drop under the bar and receive it with straight arms. A split jerk is like a push jerk, but one leg goes forward and the other backward when the athlete drops under the bar.

Snatch: Barbell is raised from the floor to the overhead position in one motion. In a squat snatch the athlete receives the bar in a squatting position and stands to finish the lift. In a power snatch, the athlete receives the bar in a partial squat.

Squat: Barbell is supported on upper back (back squat), in the rack position (front squat), or in the overhead position (overhead squat). From a standing position with a wider-than-shoulder-width stance, the athlete bends the knees until the hips are below the knees, and then stands, keeping the heels on the floor.

Sumo deadlift high pull: With a wide stance, a barbell or kettlebell is lifted from the ground to a position just under the chin.

Thruster: A combination of a front squat and a push press: starting with the barbell in the rack position, the athlete squats (hips below knees) and then stands, driving the barbell overhead.

Tire flip: A large tire, lying on its side, is flipped over by lifting one edge.

Wallball: Holding a medicine ball below the chin while facing a wall at arms length, the athlete squats (hips below knees) and stands, throwing the medicine ball in order to make contact with an overhead target on the wall.

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